Naveta d'Es Tudons, Islas Baleares, Spain

The Naveta d'Es Tudons is the most remarkable megalithic chamber tomb in the Balearic island of Menorca.

In Menorca and Majorca there are several dozen habitational and funerary naveta complexes, some of which similarly comprise two storeys. Navetas are chronologically pre-Talaiotic constructions.

The Naveta d'Es Tudons served as collective ossuary between 1200 and 750 BC. The lower chamber was for stashing the disarticulated bones of the dead after the flesh had been removed while the upper chamber was probably used for the drying of recently placed corpses. Radiocarbon dating of the bones found in the different funerary navetas in Menorca indicate a usage period between about 1130-820 BC, but the navetas like the Naveta d'Es Tudons are probably older.

The shape of the Naveta d'Es Tudons is that of a boat upside down, with the stern as its trapezoidal façade and the bow as its rounded apse. Its groundplan is an elongated semicircle. Externally, the edifice is 14.5 m long by 6.5 m wide and 4.55 m high but it would originally have been 6 m high.

The front, side walls and apse of the edifice consist of successive horizontal corbelled courses of huge rectangular or square limestone blocks dressed with a hammer and fitted together without mortar, with an all-round foundation course of blocks of even greater size laid on edge.

User Reviews

Michał (5 months ago)
2 euro for entry and not much to see. It's a waste of money and time, as you also have to walk a long way. There are more interesting places like this to see and free. Tourist trap.

Suzanne Iwai (6 months ago)
You have to be a dedicated historian/ archaeologist, keen explorer to enjoy the very exposed walk from the car park to this monument. It's not particularly rough terrain but there are few times of the day when you won't feel the onslaught of hot air and sun. Be warned the crickets have ownership of the field you're walking through. I'm not bothered by them jumping across my path, though young children might yelp in surprise. The written blurb at the entrance and on the boards is quite dry and bland. I'm none the wise how the naveta was really used because you cannot really see inside it though the barred opening. My daughter was disappointed and so was l..

Perkolator (5 years ago)
Must see megalithic monument representative of Menorca. Well preserved.

INDY Gill (6 years ago)
Amazing I love these sites a Tue look into the past

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Zvonimir Hrvoj

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